Dear Property Owners:
We want to keep you informed regarding the status of the Town’s plans to purchase a portion of the pier property. Since this is a complicated issue, the HBPOA has created a new Hot Topic page on our website to share important documents and detailed information. This email summarizes some of the key points.
At our Labor Day meeting, the HBPOA adopted a position to withhold support for the pier purchase until the plans and associated costs for the property are known. We followed up with an online survey sent to property owners and over 80% of the responses supported our position. We shared this information with the Board of Commissioners and sent a letter summarizing the key questions and issues.
The town has still not identified the intended use of the property or provided specific information on how it will be paid for other than the debt financing of the purchase.
On September 29th the Commissioners discussed the Engineering Report – Building Assessment, the Systems Evaluation report, and the Appraisal Report for the pier building. The reports basically confirm that the building is a tear-down. At the end of the meeting, Commissioner Brian Murdock stated that based on the inspection results the Town may end up tearing down both the pier and the building but should still purchase the property for investment purposes; listen to his comments here at the 2:32:00 mark.
The Commissioners then voted to offer the pier owner a revised contract which would move the Due Diligence period back until November 19th – after the inspection report on the pier structure is expected – and push the closing date back until February 28th. This delay is what was requested by HBPOA.
On October 1st the Commissioners voted to offer a new contract including an additional $50,000 due diligence payment to the pier owner.
Many property owners have expressed concerns about the Town borrowing money and potentially raising taxes to speculate on real estate. A worst-case scenario would be for the Town to buy the pier and allow it to become an abandoned, derelict structure while taxpayers foot the bill.
We will keep you informed as this topic evolves. Please don’t hesitate to communicate your position to the Commissioners and the HBPOA.